


And if I'm Gone Tomorrow

by ethan_green



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Abuse, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Maybe - Freeform, Past Child Abuse, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:54:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23876503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ethan_green/pseuds/ethan_green
Summary: Ethan Green is a Brooklyn NewsieLex Foster is a stray
Relationships: Ethan Green & Katherine Plumber, Hannah Foster & Ethan Green, Hannah Foster & Lex Foster, Lex Foster & Ethan Green
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	And if I'm Gone Tomorrow

Ethan Green was a Brooklyn newsie. He wandered around Brooklyn, hawking fake headlines and occasionally pickpocketing people. And he was damn good at it.

“Green, you got this week’s rent?” the leader, a short but dangerous boy by the name of Spot, asked.

“Yeah, I got it,” he dug a penny out of his pocket and tossed it to Spot. “I’m going out. Gonna try around the bridge.”

“Okay,” Spot nodded. “You keep them ‘Hatten boys off our turf, yeah?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Ethan grinned. “See ya at supper.”

He ran off towards the bridge, his paper bag swinging at his side.

“Paper! Getcha paper here!” he shouted. “Hey, mister, you wanna pape?” 

“Sorry, young man, I’ve just bought a paper from that young lad over there,” the man shook his head, walking away.

Ethan frowned. That kid was definitely not a Brooklyn newsie. 

He stormed over.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, roughly grabbing his shoulder

The kid turned around, a scowl already fixed on her face. _Her._ It was a girl. “Selling papers, idiot.”

She didn’t talk like a newsie.

“You’re on Brooklyn’s turf. You can’t be here.”

“I can be wherever the fuck I want.” She said.

“Listen, I have a rule against hitting girls. Spot Conlon doesn’t. You should get out of here.”

“Lexie?” 

Ethan turned to the side. A little girl, dressed in a simple brown dress, sat on an upside-down crate. She was adorable.

“That your sister?” Ethan asked. He couldn’t help it. He loved working with the younger Newsies.

“Maybe she is,” the girl, Lexie, growled. “Leave me alone.”

Ethan rolled his eyes. “You’re new to this, ain’t you?”

She nodded cautiously. “Our father died a couple days ago. Factory incident.”

Ethan sold a pape to one of his regulars. “Where’d you get the papers?”

“Manhattan,” Lexie said. 

“So you met Jack Kelly?”

“Yeah. Tried to get me to let Hannah work with him.”

“And you said no?”

“Yeah.”

“Brave girl.”

Lexie smiled. “Thanks. I’m Alexandra. You can call me Lex.”

“Ethan Green, at your service,” he bowed jokingly, tipping his cap. “Who’s the kid?”

“Hannah,” Lex told him.

“Well, if you’d like, I could show you the ropes?” he offered. He didn’t know why he wanted to help her. She was a pretty enough girl, but there was nothing special about her. Still, something told him to help her.

“I dunno…” she trailed off, glancing at her sister.

“Come on. For today, at least. I can help you find a safe place to sleep tonight too.”

Lex took Hannah’s hand, looking at him in confusion. “We don’t need a place to sleep. We still got our mother.”

“Don’t you have a mother?” Hannah asked.  If it had been anyone else, Ethan probably would have punched their teeth in. He shook his head, kicking at the ground.   
  
“Lesson One: never ask a newsie about their folks, unless you’re real close,” he looked up at them. “Most of us ain’t ever had folks, and those of us that did don’t got happy memories from them.”

He turned around. “C’mon, I know a good selling spot.” Ethan sold half of his papers just walking, hawking between talking with Lex and Hannah.

“I like your hat,” Hannah whispered shyly. 

Ethan took it off, putting it on her head. It was way too big, sliding down her forehead and over her eyes. She giggled.

“Keep that safe for me, yeah, Hannah-Banana?” he said, swiping a wallet from a passing man. “Just for today?”

“Okay!” she agreed. 

By the time Ethan’s stomach was growling for lunch, he was almost out of papers. Lex still had about half of her. He grabbed some and stuffed them in his bag.

“I’ll pay you back,” he promised. “Come on, I know a place we can get some food.” He pulled down a rusty fire escape and climbed up.

Lex stood at the bottom, eyeing it warily, clutching Hannah’s hand tightly. “Is it safe?”

“I’ve never fallen,” he shrugged. “Here, pass me the kid.”

Lex looked terrified as he helped Hannah up. He put her in front of him, so if she fell, she’d fall on him. He could feel her shaking.

“It’s okay, Hannah,” he assured her. “One step at a time. I’m right behind you, and Lex is right behind us.”

It took longer than it had  _ ever _ taken Ethan alone, but he didn’t mind. They were at Katherine Plumber’s apartment.

He rapped on the window. It slid open almost immediately.

“Hey, Ethan,” the tall red-head grinned. “Who are your friends?”   


He pulled Lex up on the platform. “This is Lex and her sister, Hannah! They’re new.”

“Nice to meet you, Lex, Hannah,” Katherine extended her hand through the window. “I’m Katherine Pu-Plumber.”

Lex nodded, shaking it. “Hello.”

“We were hoping we could grab some food, please, Miss Plumber,” Ethan said. “We got some money.”

“Ethan Green!” Katherine scolded. “You know I’d never take money from you kids.” She disappeared from the window for a second and came back with a few rolls and an apple. “Is this enough?”

“Plenty. Thanks, Miss Katherine,” Ethan said sweetly. “Is there any errands you need done?”

“None I can’t do myself, but thank you, Ethan. How’s Spot doing?”

“He’s not sick anymore, so that’s good. He’s not cooped up in the home anymore, so he’s happy.” Ethan lowered his voice. “Hotshot’s not as good of a leader. Too quick to start a fight.”

Katherine nodded. “Well, I should get back to writing. It was very nice meeting you, Lex. Bye bye, Hannah!”

“Goodbye, Miss Plumber,” Lex said, smiling shyly. “Thank you for the food.”

Ethan led them down to the river, where the Brooklyn boys usually learned how to swim, and passed each girl a roll.

“What’s Spot and Hotshot?” Lex asked.

“Spot’s the leader of the Brooklyn newsies,” Ethan explained, chewing on the bread. “Like how Jack Kelly’s the leader of the ‘Hattens. Hotshot’s his second-in-command.”

“Oh,” Lex nodded. “You live with them?”

“Most of the Brooklyn newsies do. Most of us ain’t got other homes to go to. We pay a penny every week, and if one of us gets sick, we use that money for medicine, or food and clothes during winter.”

They fell into silence. Ethan pulled out his knife and cut the apple into thirds. 

“I should get going, I’m supposed to look after some of the little at two,” he sighed, heaving himself up.

“See you tomorrow?” Lex asked.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the World.”


End file.
